Abstract
A new prototype of a heart valve prosthesis has been developed and tested. The valve consists of a nylon stent, which supports three valve leaflets. Each leaflet is made from EPDM rubber, reinforced with PE fibers. Valve prototypes are manufd. by dip-coating a cylindrical mold in a rubber soln. such that an open valve is obtained. After drying the rubber, the fibers are applied using a computer controlled winding procedure. When the manufg. procedure is completed, the mold is put in an oven to vulcanize the rubber, resulting in a prototype which is stress-free in the open configuration. Versatile layouts can be chosen in such a way that the composite material is reinforced in the areas where the highest stresses occur. A three-dimensional finite element model of the valve prosthesis is developed, which is used to study stresses and strains in the leaflets under physiol. pressure loading. It can be used as a design tool for optimizing the valve design. Prototypes have been tested in a pulse duplicator app., showing realistic opening and closing characteristics
| Original language | English |
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| Title of host publication | Materials, functionality and design : proceedings of the 5th European conference on advanced materials and processes and applications, EUROMAT '97, Maastricht, The Netherlands, April 21-23, 1997. Vol. 3. Surface engineering and functional materials |
| Editors | L.A.J.L. Sarton |
| Place of Publication | Zwijndrecht, The Netherlands |
| Publisher | Netherlands Society for Materials Science |
| Pages | 547-550 |
| ISBN (Print) | 90-803513-3-4 |
| Publication status | Published - 1997 |